Vegetable gardening and growing your own vegetables, in general, is actually pretty easy, and it’s inexpensive if you start your plants from seeds.
You might be wondering why you should grow your own vegetables? Here are a few reasons to motivate you:
Save Money: avoid paying the skyrocketing costs of products in the grocery store.
Autonomy: get control over your own food supply and be able to supply food for your family without depending on someone else.
Health: avoid the potential for exposure to harmful pesticides and bacterial outbreaks.
Fun: experience the joy of creating living food with your own hands, and the wonder of seeing nature in action.
Variety: enjoy a wide variety of vegetables, herbs, and fruit at much lower costs. For instance, the grape tomatoes in the picture are called Juliettes, and they are delicious!
Given all the positives, I believe growing your own vegetables is worth the time and effort expended. All you really need are some seeds, some soil, sunshine, water, and air. Even if you have no yard, you can still grow many different types of vegetables in a container on your porch.
However, to make the gardening experience more fruitful, it helps to have the following supplies and information. Click on the links below to see the information about that topic.
- A basic primer on growing vegetables and the basics of planning a vegetable garden.
- Where to buy vegetable seeds, and some recommended gardening catalogs and seed companies.
- Information about seed germination and hardening off seedlings, then tips on transplanting them successfully.
- How to use compost to amend your garden soil.
- A vegetable planting schedule.
- Basics of weed control.
Gardening is a wonderful experience, and I encourage you to give it a try, even if you only grow one tomato plant in a 5-gallon bucket.